A California sheriff’s department caused 20 students to fall ill after conducting a training exercise with decades-expired tear gas near their elementary school.
The students and one teacher at Portola Elementary School in San Bruno, California became ill last Tuesday, theSan Francisco Chronicle reports.
Their symptoms were caused by tear gas from a tactical training class at an isolated area of the San Francisco County Jail, located less than one mile from their school. Deputies were using gas that may have expired decades ago, according to the Chronicle.
When asked by the newspaper if the tear gas was indeed expired, Tara Moriarty with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office said that question is part of “what we’re going to look into as part of our review, making sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
“Obviously we are always concerned that there’s something expired or out of commission, to how we dispose of that,” Ms Moriarty told the outlet.
The students reported burning in their eyes, noses and throats, the Chronicle reports. Several emergency medical crews responded to the school as the incident unfolded.
High winds in the area likely caused the gas to waft towards the school, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto told local outlet KTVU last week.
Officials said deputies have used an isolated area of the jail for the training exercise for decades, CBS News reports.
“This is an unprecedented situation that we take very seriously,” Ms Moriarty told CBS News Bay Area. “We sincerely apologize to Portola Elementary School, its faculty and students, and their families for this unforeseen event which must have been especially scary for children.”
John Nazar, Portola Elementary School’s interim principal, told KTVU the incident was “very challenging.”
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office has now paused all future training that will involve chemical agents as they continue to investigate the incident, CBS News reports.
